I feel like so many people, myself included, sometimes equate “nonviolence” with the act of “protesting.” Protesting may be “nonviolent,” but that doesn’t mean it’s strategic.

Protesting is a tactic. It should part of a larger strategy. Also, must of us carry out protests as “symbolic acts,” meaning we are just trying to share our voices and aren’t disrupting anything.

Strategic Nonviolent Conflict is a very specific term that the Metta Center for Nonviolence refers to as “the kind of commitment that regards nonviolence as a strategy, to be adopted because it is thought to be more likely to ‘work’ than violence or because violence is not a practical possibility” (Metta Center for Nonviolence).

At a training recently we talked about the Nashville Lunch Counter Sit-Ins and how their strategy was based in influencing economics. Their strategy can be summarized as “If we mobilize enough people to disrupt downtown businesses, then the Mayor will change the law to desegregate.”

Think about it this way, if people had just stood outside of stores and protested segregation, do you think as much would have changed?

It only recently clicked for me that I really only had passing knowledge of Strategic Nonviolence. Now I’m starting to think about the ways we can be using the experience of past struggles for justice to support our efforts today.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned about Strategic Nonviolent Conflict

The Purpose of a Strategic Nonviolent Activist

As activists implementing Strategic Nonviolent Conflict, we need to:

1. Resist

Strategic Nonviolent Conflict is NOT the same as being passive (i.e. You resist, just not physically), it is about resisting in order to bring about justice.

2. Have “spiritual dedication to truth and honesty in human relations” – Gandhi

Gandhi described his efforts as “Satyagraha.” The Metta Center for Nonviolence writes the “ultimate aim of Satyagraha is always to bring parties closer together, and so in ‘clinging to truth’ one prefers persuasion to coercion wherever possible.”

It’s easy to show hate when faced with violence. It takes courage to be able to respond compassionately to any opponent.

3. Remove obedience/consent for an unjust system

Occasionally we need to challenge the legitimacy of a terrible system (e.g. segregation or mass incarceration). We can do this by removing our consent (e.g. sit-ins in “Whites only” counters or other forms of civil disobedience) for unjust laws/policies (e.g. segregation or “zero tolerance” policies).

The idea is to exert enough pressure on the existing unjust system, so the cost of maintaining that system goes up. At the same time as the cost increases, the legitimacy in the system goes down.

Through Strategic Nonviolent Conflict you often literally make it more expensive to keep up the status quo (e.g. economically + stress on the system’s social status).

4. Implement a carefully constructed strategy for the long-term

We cannot just act nonviolently and hope that is enough. We have to take the time to really plan out as much as we can.

The first step for nonviolence is to choose a target/issue to focus on (e.g. protesting the Salt Tax in India), then after that you can tailor your strategy to address that target/issue over many years/decades.

5. Demonstrate “fierce discipline and training”

Rev. Jim Lawson, who trained many on how to use Strategic Nonviolence, said these words because so noticed so many people just taking to the streets without a clear plan or who to leverage their capacity to make change.

Rev. Jim Lawson said it is essential for any who wish to implement a campaign of nonviolence to have this “fierce discipline and training” in order to build a movement.

I believe this purpose of Strategic Nonviolent Conflict is an important tool for us to learn about and better understand, since I know for myself it can be easy to rely on a few tactics all the time and not take the time to build capacity with my fellow activists.

Our movements still have much to gain from using Strategic Nonviolence, let’s make sure to use it!

When I think of electoral campaigns supporting a particular candidate, I think of all the energy used to outreach to the community, fundraise, and communicate values/vision.

Then I wonder what happens to all that energy after the election?

In most cases that energy disappears and those involved in the campaign don’t apply their skills to pushing ahead issues they care about. The people the campaign outreaches to in the community cast their vote and then that ends their expression of “making their voice heard.” The newly elected leaders then tend to wait until the next election cycle before exerting the same level of energy.

Shouldn’t the time after the election be when the real struggle begins?

I believe the issues we care about would have moved farther ahead of we had kept activating and building momentum.

On the other side, how many of us focused on issue organizing ignore electoral campaigns?

We spend all this energy trying to get new policies implemented and working with elected politicians, but where are we when the election is going on? We allow people to keep getting elected year after year, even though they resist the most basic issues for justice. We often avoid putting in the effort necessary to support those truly working for justice.

Shouldn’t the time during the election also be a moment for us to contribute our energy?

If we had also made sure to get strong candidates elected who are responsive to issues, then we would have had much more success in making change.

What tying together electoral and issue organizing would look like

So if you’re like me and think we need to better combine these two types of organizing, we need to figure out how to do so effectively.

1. Use electoral campaign infrastructure to support an issue

A few months ago I heard Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota describe how during one reelection cycle he focused his campaign on defeating voter ID policies, rather than campaigning for himself. At the beginning of his effort, even his allies thought voter ID was inevitable, but he mobilized his resources to a surprise defeat of voter suppression.

He did this by emphasizing heavy field organizing (rather than ads) and voter turnout. In order to accomplish this his campaign really had to train and support new community leadership.

This example of focusing on an issue and building community capacity that will keep pushing issues after an election is a model to follow.

2. Getting those supporting issues to come out for progressive candidates

Rishi Awatramani writes we need to involve “people in conscious political action, winning office for progressive candidates (including those that emerge directly from our base), training communities in direct accountability of elected officials we put into office, and sharpening our skills at running campaigns.”

We who focus on the community side need to demonstrate the importance of ensuring strong candidates get elected.

3. Support the growth of community capacity

Both electoral and issue based often just ask for a “vote” or “sign this petition/become a member/etc.” which greatly limits the involvement of people to impact change.

4. Build a culture of cross-organizing among candidates and organizations

From the earlier example of Rep. Keith Ellison, he said he worked with state and local politicians/communities as a coalition. Right now many candidates work in silos (other than the occasional canvass/phone bank for each other), but they could be working in coalitions to support each other.

Organizations do this as well and fosters an environment of competition rather than collaboration. We need to build momentum to enhance all of our collective efforts.

5. Engage in mass political education

In our organizing we often think what can win this issue now or get this candidate elected, but we also have the opportunity to discuss deeper issues (e.g. dismantling oppression, working for intersectional justice, and the role of institutions) rather than just “blander” issues (e.g. “middle class,” “go vote,” etc.).

This takes time to really sit down and have the right space to have constructive dialogue; however, if we’re in this to make lasting and long-term change we should be using every opportunity we have to foster a culture of mass education.

6. Recognize the limits and potential of each type of organizing

Another good quote from Rishi Awatramani specifically about one limit with electoral organizing where he says “We must not mistake the political power we might win through this process as analogous to the power people might win through deeper forms of political change”

He goes on to describe the potential in that “It is equally important that we recognize the potential to create real benefits for oppressed people in the US and beyond through this type of political work. And more than anything, we have to build new organizations for the new emerging majority in this country that can build towards deep, lasting social justice.”

As for issue organizing, one limit is the shorter and reduced lens through which we see our work. We normally don’t work on grand platforms, so we can get stuck thinking of only “what’s realistic.”

However, one potential of issue organizing is we can make specific positive changes in people’s lives. Issue campaigns can stay focused on one thing until it finally becomes a reality.

7. Get out on the streets

Lastly, we all need to be on the streets more and go to people’s doors. It can be really easy for advocacy organizations working on particular issues, just to rely on their particular network.

For electoral campaigns this more applies to after the election. It can be easy to get caught up in campaigns (e.g. Obama’s) and then stopped organizing to the same degree after our candidates get […]

Their action has drawn immediate analysis and posts on everything from whether the tactic was “strategic” to the background/”intentions” of the disrupters themselves.

How many of us supporters of Bernie immediately jumped to his defense just because he is our favorite candidate for President? We say “he marched with MLK” and he is proposing policies that will support all lives.

How many of us took offense that the activists focused on Bernie, when “Hillary and especially the Republican field are much worse?”

How many of us “felt bad for Bernie” and looked for any way to discount the disrupters’ actions?

How many of us tried to silence their voices by “booing,” “chanting,” or even “calling for the police to make arrests?”

These and so many other comments are similar to what I’m sure many of us have heard over the past few days, especially (though not exclusively) in predominantly White spaces.

Instead, we should be discussing the best ways we can propel racial justice in this country as our first priority. Once we are sure we are doing everything in our capacity to dismantle unjust systems of Whiteness, then we can consider other dialogues.

Until that day comes, here are a few ways I remind myself of how to engage in critical conversations around race.

1. Be Willing to Accept Criticism (Even When It’s Not On My Schedule)

Discussing race for many is a sensitive topic, so it can be doubly difficult when someone points out how we can do better.

I know for me it’s much easier, though not easy, to receive feedback when I ask for it instead of when someone else brings it up on their own. We need to be understanding and as graciously as we can to accept criticism even when it comes at times when we aren’t expecting it.

Now we don’t all have the opportunity to release a policy platform, but we can all lend our support for one and get involved in efforts to bring them about.

3. Amplify Rather than Silence Marginalized Voices

If the worst thing the activists did was prevent Bernie Sanders from making a few speeches, that surely seems justified to bring attention to the death, incarceration, and fundamental injustices faced by Black lives in the United States.

I think this is a needed conversation for all us, and we should be using this time to reflect and take action.

In particular for those who identify as “progressive” we have to support the Black Lives Matter movement and its push for racial justice. We must avoid solely discussing economic issues.

I actually think Bernie Sanders is doing a good job moving in the right direction (after actions focused on him), so we need to follow his example and actually respond to the calls of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even if we disagree about the Black Lives Matter disrupters’ phrasing and context, we should be recognizing the courage of these women to bring this narrative to the forefront.

Those of us who identify as White often have the privilege to choose when we engage in conversation around race. This often results in fewer deep and challenging reflections on our systems of Whiteness.

The activists on Saturday made sure people at the rally, and those who support Sanders, heard their message for racial justice.

There is a reason Republicans attacked ACORN so frantically and Democrats, more worried about their own elections than the people ACORN represented, allowed it to fall.

Now ACORN wasn’t perfect by any means, but ACORN did offer a model to amplify the voices of low-income communities, and also worked to elevate their interests to a level where they couldn’t be ignored.

Lessons We Can Learn From ACORN

ACORN did things well and also made mistakes. We should learn the lessons of what ACORN did well or should have done differently, to create a new set of resilient organizations that can strongly work for justice.

We need to learn to:

1. Build New Leadership

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There is a big difference between recruiting existing leaders vs. training people to develop their own leadership skills.

Just think in your own organizing, how often are the same faces at every meeting? The people most impacted by injustice should be leading the charge.

Particularly in low-/moderate-income and/or non-organized communities, we need to create programs, host workshops, and work 1-on-1 to expand leadership capacity.

2. Tie National Organizations to Local Organizations – And Vice Versa

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If ACORN was solely a local organization, it would have had a tough time standing up to bank that offered predatory loans. However, since it had such a robust network across the county it allowed ACORN to stand up to powerful interests of all sizes.

ACORN’s local groups had some degree of flexibility to focus on the issues impacting their own communities, which could then scale up to become national issues.

There are times when having a unified focus is essential to moving forward progressive issues, and then there a times the multi-issue approach works best.

3. Register voters

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We need to conduct a disciplined and comprehensive voter registration drive to get more people to the polls.

Politicians need to be accountable to ALL their constituents, not just those with the loudest voice. By making sure most people register and vote, politicians will need to reach out to and listen to their base.

Even though ACORN had a well-trained voter registration drive, the media focused on isolated incidents and held them up as systemic issues.

Thus, it becomes doubly important to have discipline and accountability so as to be resilient to attacks from those afraid of registering low-income and disenfranchised voters.

4. Develop intersectional cross-issue plans

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To solve issues of low wages, high incarceration rates, environmental degradation, attacks on basic rights, etc. we must look at them holistically.

People are impacted by a whole host of issues and most people have multiple identities (e.g. based on economics, race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, etc.). This is called intersectionality.

We ought to look beyond single-issue politics and engage in cross-issue plans that can propel significant victories against multifaceted problems (e.g. the Prison Industrial Complex, poverty, and poor educational outcomes).

5. Provide political education

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We need a truly grassroots organization that frequently engages people in political education.

Rinku Sen writes in Stir It Up these means we need to organize our members to “read, share information, understand history, bring people to speak to our groups, and talk with people in other places.”

A mass-based organization could engage people in actions for justice regardless of whether the truth is covered in schools, politics, or the media.

6. Grow media and research capacity

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If an organization relies on the dominant media to relay their message, then they are constantly fighting an uphill battle.

Rinku Sen notes in Stir It Up (and implements it in practice with Colorlines.com) the essential role in media in all of our organizing efforts, and that we have to BOTH foster alternative ways to get our message out and better learn how to work with mainstream media.

This means building relationships with news outlets, focusing our messages on a specific audience, and developing our own media.

7. Coordinate multiple, long-term cross-issue campaigns

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We need to be action-oriented in order to engage and educate people. We also need to work for the long-term (i.e. think beyond election cycles) to achieve larger-scale changes.

To be able to run multiple campaigns at the same time requires a lot of base building, but allows our organizations to gain a much higher capacity level.

To summarize all these points, I again turn to the wise words of Rinku Sen who writes we need to be “increasing our organizing among the people affected and then addressing their issues with sustained campaigns and the addition of research and media capacity.”

This week I’m going to share the next 4 sections we covered in our strategy training document. This has some pretty in-depth questions for campaigns to consider, hopefully it will be of use for your next campaign!

4. Ecosystem Analysis/Situational Analysis

You cannot create your strategy in a vacuum! We’ve already looked at your constituency and the problems they face, but you also need to consider a host of other factors that could influence how you implement your strategy.

This section focuses on information gathering. What information should you look for in order to inform your strategy?

One way is to develop your “Ecosystem/Situational Analysis.” This contains all the information about the situation in which the campaign will be conducted including but not limited to: transportation, political climate, communications, opponent’s capabilities, weather, legal system, etc.

You could spend your entire life analyzing your particular “ecosystem,” so you need to choose what to focus on and the characteristics of the ecosystem that don’t have to be quite as comprehensive.

When compiling the information on your ecosystem analysis, make sure to note whether the information is fact or assumption (i.e. a belief in lieu of hard facts). So that way you can update your analysis once you have the facts.

Below are a few potential parts of the “ecosystem” to choose from when conducting your own focus analysis areas.

Here’s how this Ecosystem Analysis would look for the Montgomery Bus Boycotts:

Level of social aggregation – Local (the City of Montgomery) Type of institution – Focused on bus company (economy) and intersections of families, churches, and broader networks (family, religion, and civic society) Duration – Started as short term (a few weeks or a month) and then expanded to mid term based on ReStrategizing (so lasted just over a year) Cultural characteristics – Sought to dismantle the idea of “Separate but equal” (frame/ideology) Structural characteristics – Aimed to activate the intersections of families, churches, and Black-own taxis (mobilization infrastructures, networks, and allies)

Political/Government Analysis

All campaigns definitely need to understand the general political/government climate and how it impacts the short- and long-term campaign.

Current political situation – Analyze the general direction of the political climate (e.g. moving to be more/less democratic or seeking to maintain the status quo) Level of repression – Consider whether the government will use all means at its disposal to limit dissent (e.g. through force, legal systems, and the media) or whether it will only use a few Opposition in government – Look to understand whether the government is united or divided in its opposition to your campaign Level of corruption – Consider whether there is a high-level of political favoritism or money laundering in the current government Opponent’s position – Aim to be an “expert” of your opponent’s position so you will be prepared for anything they say/do. Other factors – Think of anything else that your campaign should be aware of that influences the political/government situation

Your “Area of Operations” is the physical (e.g. ecological and infrastructural) and specific political situation impacting your work. Look at the following to see if analyzing these areas may support your work.

A. Geography – The geography could impact your organizing and timing.

Topography (i.e mapping out the surface) Hydrography (i.e. mapping out the bodies of water)

B. Climate/Weather – While information is fairly easy to obtain, make sure you consistent gather information on the weather if it could impact your actions.

Cold/Hot Rainy/Dry

C. Transportation – All sides in the struggle need to travel, so consider taking time to understand the different options.

While your strategy may be aligned to your values in creating the world you want to see, there is almost assuredly some institutions/people that wish to see the continuation of the status quo. These institutions/people may not necessarily be opposed to your values/vision, but they resist any attempts to change how things are currently.

Since the Fall of 2013, I’ve been working with a group of great folks from the Leading Change Network on creating a workshop on Strategy and ReStrategizing. While we took about 5-6 months off from our work, a few of us are back into and are nearing the home stretch of our collective labors!

This project started as a way to build on Marshall Ganz’s curriculum on strategy, specifically adding content on how to “re-strategize” during a campaign. “Re-strategizing” is the idea that strategy should be flexible, and should adapt to changing contexts.

We quickly realized though, that based on Althea Middleton-Detzner’s (International Center on Nonviolent Conflict) and Joe Worthy’s (Children’s Defense Fund) worth on strategic nonviolent conflict, that there was some additional material that could be built into the initial curriculum on strategy (e.g. ideas around power analysis, pillars of support, ecosystem analysis, etc.).

We took a new look at our work and decided to build our workshop from the ground up, and make an adapted workshop on strategy to better incorporate the ideas we learned from the worlds of strategic nonviolence, business, military, and other social change organizations.

With these new concepts in tow, we designed a new workshop comprised of 3 essential components of the strategizing program. A. The Initial Strategy, B. The ReStrategizing Process, and C. Capacity Needed to Strategizing (e.g. organizational structures or individual mindsets).

Over the next few posts I want to share a little of what we found out!

First 3 sections of Strategy: Constituency, Vision, and Problem Analysis

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1. Constituency

Your constituency are the ones you organize to achieve your goals.

Generally your constituency will start out with a core base of supporters, and your organization’s job is to grow your constituency by moving more people “to your side.”

Later on in the workshop (in the “Playing Field”/”Axis of Allies” section) we discuss the essential idea that you while someone may start as a “bystander” or even “opponent,” you must continually look for opportunities to move people closer to your constituency/side.

When deciding your strategy, you must also take care to ground it in your current constituency’s values and fit with their range of organizing (though if necessary/helpful, you can push what “fits”), because they are the primary ones carrying out the strategy!

The Midwest Academy says the job of the organizer is to figure out what your constituency’s relationship to power and their ability to affect your target or decision maker’s interest.

Below are a few questions you can ask about your constituency:

Who are your people? Who are you organizing? (e.g. low- and moderate-income workers in a rural town in Pennsylvania) What are their values? (e.g. community collaboration, healthy and educated children, and economic self-sufficiency) 2. Visioning

Rinku Sen writes that your strategy should be clear about “what you believe, what you oppose, and the future you aim to create.”

You have to make sure any strategy you create helps pushes against what you oppose, while also propelling your vision. Below are those questions you should ask to help guide your strategy to its clear future.

What do you believe? What do you oppose? What world do you want to live in? What it will look like when you know you have “won?”

Here’s a breakdown for a group opposed to the Prison Industrial Complex (i.e. the interconnection between corporations, politics, and the prison system):

What we believe – We believe in replacing the punitive-based prison system, with one based on restorative justice. We also believe in the abolition of the PIC and the creation of alternative means of community security. What we oppose – We oppose a racist/homophobic and punitive-based prison system that has increased incarceration and institutional racism in the U.S. to the level that with 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. has 25 percent of the world’s prison population. What world we want to live in – We want to live in a world where people are fairly respected and not immediately thought suspicious because of their race, sexual orientation, or immigration status. We also want to live a world where people have a chance to contribute back to their community if they make a mistake, and not just punished in an inhumane manner. What we want changed – We want to institute restorative justice into our prison/political systems. We also want to eliminate people politically/economically benefiting from the PIC’s rise, heightened surveillance, and the media’s influence on criminal justice policy.

Once you’ve done this visioning, and generally identified what you opposed, you need to specifically understand the problems facing your issues.

3. Problem Analysis

One way to specifically address the problems that prevent you from reaching your visions, is to do a problem analysis.

A “problem analysis,” seeks to clearly identify the negative systems that impact people’s’ lives (e.g. underfunded schools or high rates of pollution near a school).

The problem analysis “grounds” the context of your organizing, by making sure groups understand the problems they are trying to address. Do this at both a large (i.e. institutional/structural) and small-scale.

By answering some of the following questions (some of which should take time and research to uncover), you’ll have a great start on your problem analysis!

The responses listed below are potential ones for a community concerned about gun violence.

What problems does our constituency face? Which is the worst? – The main grievances, day-to-day issues, problems they face include:

People are dying Police have an “enforcement” view of the community, rather than seeking collaboration/service Discrimination

What are the “roots” of the problem (you will also refer to these again in the Power Analysis, which will come later):

Michael Warner notes that here in the U.S. “[being] normal probably outranks all other social aspirations” in the Disability Studies Reader. I know I often want to fit in with my communities and participate.

But does this desire to participate also force conformity and exclusion? Through seeking “normalcy” does U.S. culture also diminish and stigmatize those who do not fit the traditional ideas of “being normal?”

It probably doesn’t take you too long to think of how true this sentiment is, that our “culture of normalcy” demands people to meet many unrealistic expectations. In addition, those who have this view also believe everyone wants to meet the norm and if they don’t meet it, must be “suffering” or have a “difficult life.”

I’m going to look at what some incredible activists point out as the core attributes of this “culture of normalcy” and what we can do to promote a new narrative of disability that seeks justice and inclusion of difference instead of trying to force assimilation/conformity.

Ok, so I still don’t quite get what “Normalcy” is…

Well below I’ve got a list of the core attributes of our “culture of normalcy” and how it contributes to negative actions and injustice. So let’s go ahead and get started!

The “Culture of Normalcy…”

Creates the illusion that a “normal” way of living/acting/being actually exists

What’s considered “normal” today is completely different from the norm 100 years ago and even just 10-20 years ago. It will also continue to change.

Lennard Davis notes that “[normal] is a configuration that arises in a particular historical moment. It is part of a notion of progress, of industrialization, and of ideological consolidation [of power].” This means, our definitions of normal support those in power and the dominant worldview, rather than being based in any intrinsic attributes.

Human difference is so vast that it’s impossible to say there’s only one way to live/act/be in this complicated world. This is one reason we have so many attitudes of ableism (i.e. oppression towards those with disabilities), heteronormativism, and sizeism (i.e. oppression towards those of certain body sizes).

For example, many in the Deaf community view themselves as part of a linguistic minority rather than having a “disability.” These communities note that they don’t feel “cut off” from the rest of the world, but rather just speak a different language.

We must NOT deem any life “abnormal” just because they have a different way of learning, communicating, or moving.

Forces compulsion to be “like everyone else”

If an individual or group is different in some way, then I see so many examples of people wanting to “help” them “fit in.” Why can’t they just fit in by being who they are?

One common sign of this is for school photos that involve students in wheelchairs. Parents or staff will often setup photos so that they hide the wheelchair and, thus, makes the kid seem “normal.”

It seems to me that this is clearly about making everyone else more comfortable, not to make the student feel more included.

If our society didn’t have such a fear of difference, then it wouldn’t matter whether someone used a wheelchair, communicated differently, etc. or not.

To continue the example in the last section about Deaf communities, U.S. society has often forced the Deaf to not learn sign language and communicate “normally” (e.g. which has some similarities to how the U.S. forced Native Americans to speak English and not speak their tribe’s language).

So whether it’s with the “helpful” mindset or through force, the “culture of normalcy” makes some think they have a duty/responsibility to make every “fit in” even if they just included them as they are, then they wouldn’t need to do anything else.

Puts emphasis on people to “overcome a disability” rather than seeking societal changes

How many stories do you hear about people with disabilities who “overcome their disability” and are considered heroes? What does that mean?

Does it mean they are a “hero” because they are now “like everyone else?”

The phrase “overcoming a disability,” Simi Linton notes in Reassigning Meaning, puts a huge emphasis on the disabled to work harder rather than focusing on what our society needs to do to change.

This also steers those with disabilities to internalize oppression by thinking they must “do more” to “overcome their disability,” even if that shouldn’t be the message we send.

I’ll look more in-depth at some of the societal changes we need to push for, but for now just remember how the phrase “overcoming a disability” makes people feel OK about accepting the status quo. Instead, we still have a long way to go before reaching a truly inclusive society.

Makes people believe that everyone wants to be “Normal,” because their life must be full of suffering

Marsha Saxton in The Disability Studies Reader writes “the stereotyped notions of the ‘tragedy’ and ‘suffering’ of ‘the disabled’ result from the isolation of disabled people in society.”

Marsha Saxton goes on to write that impairments (e.g. mental or physical) are an inconvenience, however “It is discriminatory attitudes and thoughtless behaviors, and the ensuing ostracism and lack of accommodation, that makes life difficult.”

These statements highlight that most people with disabilities suffer most because of oppression, discrimination, and lack of opportunities. Even those with painful disabilities would be better served if people focused less on their pain, and how to treat them as human.

Last month I attended the New Organizing Institute’s RootsCamp. It was rejuvenating to see folks I hadn’t seen in years and those I have been working with for a while, but had never seen in person like Althea and Chris from the ReStrategizing Team of the Leading Change Network.

There were a ton of important sessions I attended, but since it is the start of the new year and the time of resolutions I thought it would be a perfect time to share about what I learned at Heather Booth’s session on “Organizing for the Long Haul.”

Heather Booth is the founding Director/current President of the Midwest Academy and a long-time activist for countless causes (e.g. financial reform, racial justice, and immigrant rights).

The heart of this session was about figuring out how to continue being an activist without “burning out” or feeling like you couldn’t emotionally/spiritually/physically/etc. maintain your contributions to the social change movement.

Heather Booth facilitated a rich discussion with tons of incredible tips and ideas, but let’s start with her main principles first.

4 ways to live in this movement for the long haul

1. Our work needs to be based in love

Anger is a part of us and shouldn’t be ignored; however, in terms of making sure we can do this work for many years we need to make sure our efforts are grounded in love for people, places, and the world around us.

In Paula X. Rojas’ article in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded she writes political involvement/movements must intertwine with “our relationships with loved ones and the larger community” in order to be “truly liberatory.”

2. Invest time in that relationship

Heather Booth noted “Time is not renewable.” Though this may seem obvious when you take time to think about it, but I know for myself I sometimes have trouble taking the time “when there is so much left to do.”

The work will get done, so I should enjoy the time I have with those I love and not worry about what “I could be working on.”

3. Think strategically about love in this work the same way we do for our campaigns

Yes! A way to apply what we love about organizing to relationships! If it’s helpful for you, the very same tools we do in our social change efforts can just as easily apply to the rest of our lives.

Heather Booth noted 2 key pieces to this concept is to have the following:

Have a strategic plan (e.g. goals, visions, etc.) Have a strategic schedule/timeline

In particular, use these strategic plans/schedules to spend time with kids. But for me, since I don’t have any kids (except those I teach chess to) I’m going to think of how to strategically think about how I invest myself in my partner and those around me.

4. Be gentle with ourselves

One of the biggest lessons I’ve been trying to learn over the past few months. It can sometimes be dangerous to continually criticize yourself even if it is to work on “self-improvement.”

While there are times when we must also commit to changing some aspects of ourselves (e.g. because of oppressive thoughts/actions/ideas), in general we have to remember to avoid allowing “guilt to overcome.”

Heather Booth noted that one of the best ways to achieve this gentleness with ourselves is to “seek out community…They will be there for you…and you will do the same for them.”

Other key ideas to living as an activist

I noted at the beginning that Heather Booth did an excellent job drawing out the experiences of the group, so here are a few of the other ideas that resonated with me the most.

Time

1. Be intentional about time – Every minute is precious to me so I’m increasingly trying to protect my time. This means knowing how I want to spend my time. This goes back to Heather Booth’s idea to strategize a plan/schedule for our relationships.

2. Alone time – I need time to myself to journal or think. The degree each person needs obviously varies, but the idea is the same…take time for yourself. You deserve it!

3. Require vacation time – Organizations should mandate their members take some time off and ideally should support them in this endeavor (i.e. providing funds). Whenever I take a break, even if I really really don’t want to, I know I always come back with much better energy.

4. Say no to protect time – It can be tempting for us to support everyone around us, but that limits the amount of time/energy we put into each project. Think of it this way, you’re still supporting people by letting them know what you can/cannot do at the moment. They’ll be glad to know!

Values/Resources

These don’t quite go together as nicely, but they are extremely important!

5. Be clear about values – I know many times we are making choices about what to share about ourselves or our ideologies based on the situation. However, it’s important to have a community that you do feel comfortable sharing with and being clear about your values both for yourself, and your growth as an organizer.

6. $ matters in order to support each other – I have trouble with this one since I would rather not have to worry about money. However, right now it has to play into our thoughts of our work and relationships. Otherwise, a lack of funds may lead to other stresses. Unfortunately, remedying this idea (i.e. finding a position that pays what you need) is not easy.

Community/Relationships

7. Non-movement friends – Some folks at the workshop mentioned how energized they felt by having different conversations than they had in their work. Also, they noted that having people to talk to who weren’t embroiled in a campaign or intense planning/acting was extremely valuable.

bell hooks’ quote is a clear reminder that patriarchy does not just describe male actions of domination, but also how some organizations and cultural narratives function.

Patriarchy, like most forms of oppression, has a way of trying to convince us that, in the words of the Crunk Feminist Collective “things are the way they are because they have to be, that they have always been that way, that there are no alternatives and that they will never change.”

From Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony to bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Audre Lorde, people have been resisting this mentality and pointing out another path away from unjust power systems.

Through the rest of this post I’m going to summarize intersectional changemakers’ ideas on:

The current state of patriarchy The frames that perpetuate the acceptance of patriarchy Examples of patriarchy in our current institutions The main long-term efforts we can take to combat patriarchy

We’re lucky that that numerous changemakers have already clearly demonstrated what we need to do to dismantle patriarchy. Now we just all have to integrate these actions into all of our organizing efforts.

The core attributes of patriarchy

Patriarchy is a system that has many elements associated with it. Below are some of the key expressions of patriarchy:

Holds up the traditional male qualities as central, while other qualities are considered subordinate. The attributes of power, control, rationality, and extreme competitiveness are examples of these traditional male qualities. Emotional expressiveness, compassion, and ability to nurture are examples of subordinate qualities in patriarchal systems.

Protection of traditional patriarchal social structures. If a person or group challenges patriarchy in any form, then the patriarchal response is to increase control. In particular, this means increasing control over oppressed or marginalized groups.

Reinforcement of other types of oppression. Patriarch contributes to racism, sizeism, and homophobia. Third Wave feminists, such as Rebecca Walker, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, and Cherríe Moraga, are the major voices to articulate this truth. All of the manifestations of patriarchy mentioned above, magnify for those with other oppressed identities.

However, one other important point to remember is, as described on the Daily Kos, “patriarchy is generally not an explicit ongoing effort by men to dominate women. It is a long-standing system that we are born into and participate in, mostly unconsciously.”

This means, that people of all gender identities can perpetuate patriarchy, even if it is mainly male-identified individuals that reap most of the societal benefits.

“Boys will be boys.” This idea that men are biologically “programmed” to behave certain ways, against all scientific evidence, is one of the biggest cultural narratives that continues our current patriarchal systems.

Celebrating “macho” or “alpha” men.

Jackson Katz, in his book The Macho Paradox, discusses how society often promotes violent and controlling aspects of male culture. From lifting up the “strong” hero to denigrating “sissies,” our language and media foster this image of what “real men” look like.

Men believing they should be silent, instead of challenging other men on patriarchal and sexist ideas/actions. One of the most insidious characteristics of patriarchy, as mention above, is that it seeks to protect traditional male traits and actions. Even of some men would never subscribe to certain actions/ideas/language, they ignore when their peers commit those very same things.

Bruce Kokopeli and George Lakey write “Patriarchy tells men that their need for love and respect can only be met by being masculine, powerful, and ultimately violent.” This viewpoint also contributes to the high amount of male bystanders who do […]

Normally on Organizing Change my focus is on what’s going on in the world of social change and what we should be taking the time to learn about. However, this week I thought I’d share a little bit about what I’ve been up to and what’s in store for Organizing Change.

Though my posts on Organizing Change have been pretty sparse over the past month or two, I’m still adding new ideas to my “Future Posts List.” Whenever I find a new skill-building resource or strategy to dismantle injustice, I think of how best to share the information with others here on this blog.

So here’s a life update and what I’ve been learning about.

Education Organizing Landscape

I recently moved to Delaware and have been taking a bit of time to get oriented in this new place and explore the area. I’m slowly starting to get in a great rhythm here and now I’m seeing how I can get more involved in organizing here.

One of the key parts of organizing is relationships, so it often takes a bit of time to get a “lay of the land” and know what efforts are already going on and how you can contribute at a local level.

For example, there’s a big commitment to increasing the ability of Delaware’s education system to support all students. Concurrently, there’s also a specific interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education.

As is generally the case, government and nonprofits are taking a leading role and there’s little true engagement from the grassroots. These institutional entities have important roles, but we still must find ways to include those outside of the established organizations.

Already I’ve talked to so many people who want to participate in making a better education for kids…they just don’t know exactly how to get involved. The main reason for that is there isn’t a ton of opportunities to get involved.

Even if a nonprofit advocacy group conducts “community organizing,” it’s generally just on the scale of getting people to speak at hearings or sign petitions. Very few closely involve those most impacted in planning and implementing projects/campaigns.

So what this means for me is that I’ve been thinking of ways to create truly grassroots campaigns that involve all constituents here. Interestingly, the one that has the most promise is a chess-in-the-schools initiative.

Whether people have read the studies or not, that show how helpful chess is for increasing academic abilities, many families and schools all seem to enthusiastically support chess.

Now I am wondering how we can use this interest in chess to create a campaign that builds a base of people that can also work on other issues of addressing institutional injustices. This work is still in the formation stage, but I see how many want to get involved so it’s time we find a way to get them a chance.

Leading Change Network

I joined the Leading Change Network (LCN) last July at their Global Event, because I was immediately interested in their efforts around learning, resource sharing, and identifying best organizing practices.

Since then I’ve started working with an incredible team on researching how to “restrategize” (i.e. what do you do once you create an initial strategy, but then have to modify it) during a campaign.

We’re also getting the chance to investigate strategy from a variety of fields (e.g. business, military, and education) to see what else our social change work should consider or at least be prepared for. We’re even comparing strategy from across the social change world (e.g. Marshall Ganz’s frameworks and the work of the Midwest Academy).

Basically we’ve set ourselves up with the ambitious goal of identifying the key elements of “restrategizing” and laying out the core baseline of “strategy” from numerous disciplines. Though, it’s pretty cool to have the chance to compile best practices for an important aspect of our campaigns.

This “restrategizing working group” is also the highest functioning digitally-based group I’ve ever got the opportunity to be a part of! We have tall aspirations, but I feel that this team is going to keep on surprising folks with how much we get done.

Similarly, I’m also working on LCN’s Network Resource Center to highlight valuable organizing articles, videos, workshops, and guides. Eventually we’ll have an easy-to-use online repository to showcase some of the most important documents on social change.

Both of these projects I currently have the opportunity to work with are especially enlightening for me because I hoped to do similar things with Organizing Change, but now I don’t have to wait!

Organizing Change Next Steps

Organizing Change has been publishing for about 7 months now and its actually about where I was hoping it would be!

I wanted the first year of Organizing Change to be about clearly identifying important organizations and their work, along with improving my own writing skills. Both of these I feel like I’ve definitely accomplished (though with some further goals to work on!).

Now over the next year I really want to finalize my “cornerstone content” (i.e. the core information I think all changemakers should be aware of). While I hope to make most of my posts here informative, I aim to compile the key essentials that would be useful for organizers in any field.

Here’s my 5 main pieces of “cornerstone content” I’m going to be working on over this next year:

Changing the Narrative of Dominant Culture Strategy Development for the Long-Term Organize for the 21st Century (i.e. organizer skills – the “toolbox”) Injustice We Must Fight – Solutions We Must Create Movement Building

This is going to be a gradual process, but I’m already looking forward […]